//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: A Bond Forged and A Decision Made 
// Story: Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers [Parallel Quest] 
// by Cyrus Colter 
//------------------------------//

As Sweetie Belle and Rota Bage left Pallet Town, the former talked to her Squirtle, which she nicknamed Tank, with some questions about her new friends' evolutions, eventually leading to the following line of questions and answers.

“What’s Gigantamax?” Sweetie demanded as she showed Rota her PokeDex, displaying an image of Gigantamax Blastoise.

“It’s a subtype of another phenomenon called Dynamax, basically something that the Galar Region has that lets them turn their Pokemon into giants, with Gigantamax Pokemon being more powerful, having a different form, and often having their own exclusive Max Moves, which are variants of normal moves used in the Dynamax and Gigantamax states,” Rota answered as she handed the PokeDex back to Sweetie Belle, right before a Rattata made itself known, challenging Sweetie Belle and Tank.

“Someone seems to have chosen violence today,” Rota commented while Sweetie Belle and Tank prepared for battle. The Rattata immediately went for a Tackle, with Tank responding by turning around, seemingly without Sweetie’s order.

But Rota knew better. She’d been around telepaths before.

As the Rattata stumbled from colliding head first into a Squirtle shell, Tank jumped backwards, tackling the purple rodent to the ground. Seeing her chance, Sweetie Belle pulled a PokeBall from her backpack and threw it at the Rattata, successfully catching it.

“Yes! Now to find out the gender,” Sweetie said, before Rota interrupted with the answer.

“It’s a male. You can check the PokeDex to be sure, but last I checked, female Rattata have a lighter coat and shorter whiskers,” she said.

“Huh. Well I have a good name for you, already.” Sweetie let the Rattata out of the PokeBall, with it still looking beat up, but now pacified.

“How do you feel about the name Ratzo, little guy? You can talk, I'll understand you,” the disguised filly said, causing both Ratzo and Rota to raise an eyebrow at her. Ratzo’s other eyebrow soon joined the first one when Sweetie Belle healed him while petting him on the head.

“Showoff,” Rota said to the sight.

After getting the name situation sorted out and Ratzo informed on the basic gist of Sweetie Belle being a Visitor from another dimension, the four of them made their way to Viridian City, Rota leading the group to a restaurant in town for a meal, after Rota challenged a few willing trainers to battles for the money.

Once the four of them had eaten their fill, the younger three being quite astonished at Rota’s appetite, they saw that the sun was setting and Rota suggested they head to the Pokemon Center for the night.

Checking in for the night, the two were led to a room with a pair of beds and a nightstand with a radio on top. Lying down for the night, the group was soon mostly asleep, Sweetie Belle staying awake the longest, before deciding to turn on the radio, only to hear the voice of a Pokemon the filly turned human swore she recognized.

As Sweetie Belle drifted to sleep with the assistance of the Singing Jigglypuff, she already knew she wanted one of her own to sing along with.








*That night, in the Ferrum Region…*

Neo was currently skulking about an old forgotten bunker, looking for something he knew to be here, under Giovanni’s orders.

His mind wandered back to his brief meeting with Giovanni that led to this as he walked towards the room he knew any remaining research notes would be stored in.

Neo was just exiting his Quarters when he heard his name called. Turning to face the speaker, he found Giovanni approaching with a familiar smile on his face. A smile that always came before a mission he knew would go smoothly.

“I’d like for you to revisit your old home Region and retrieve something for me. From what I understand, you helped store it away in the first place, so getting it out shouldn’t be too difficult. Text me when you find it,” he said, not even stopping to ensure Neo had understood what he meant. He did. But he really wished he didn’t.


Coming back to the present, Neo entered a room with stacks upon stacks of paperwork, all stored in neat labeled boxes and covered in dust.

Approaching one box in particular, left by itself in the corner of the room, he looked at the label to confirm it was what he was looking for. He then gave a slight grimace as he got that confirmation.

Synergy Fusion Burst Phenomenon.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, he took a picture of the box and sent a message to Giovanni with it, saying “Found it.”

With a flash of light, he and the research were teleported out of the bunker and to the Rainbow Rocket castle.







The next morning, Sweetie Belle and Rota, after eating a breakfast provided by the Pokemon Center with the former’s Pokemon, (Sweetie Belle was mildly astonished when another guests Snorlax challenged Rota to an eating contest… even more so when Rota won), went to check out the Library. As many questions as the Saiyan woman had answered, there were still a great many details that escaped her knowledge, thus the research trip while the disguised filly determined what other Pokemon she wanted to catch to round out her initial team before she and Rota had their bout.

“So, the quickest way to get a Ghost type would be to go to Johto. Not a problem, since I was gonna head there anyway to stop by the Dragons Den,” Sweetie Belle thought aloud.

“I’d recommend waiting for tonight to catch your Ghost, but you said you were leaving this evening. Speaking of which…” Rota commented before pausing, causing Sweetie Belle to lower the book in her face to meet the older woman’s now slightly nervous gaze. “I mentioned before that I travel the Omniverse, but it’s not as easy for me as it might be for you. I often end up having to wait for natural rifts or asking the current Champion of Sinnoh to open a rift out for me. From how you talk about just leaving as if it were easy for you, I assume you can open your own rifts… and I’m gonna be honest, you are way too young to be traveling the Omniverse by yourself, for my-”

“Of course you can come with me! I’d very much like you to meet my sister and our friends,” Sweetie cut off Rota with an excited whisper. Excited enough to cause everyone nearby to shush her. Reigning in her excitement as the two of them began to pack up and leave the library, she then added, “Though, I’d also like for them to see our fight, so do you think we could wait until after we leave this dimension to have it? I think I know somewhere we’ll be able to have it without hurting anyone else.”

Rota gave it some thought. “Mmm. Alright, but only because I’ve been wanting to get out of this dimension more than I’ve been craving a brawl. Don’t get me wrong, this place is fantastic for a vacation, but getting involved in its problems is a major headache. Something I have a distinct feeling you’ll be quite familiar with if we end up roped into this anymore than we already have been.”

As the two walked into Viridian Forest, Sweetie Belle took on her pony form before dashing off into the bushes, likely in search of a Pikachu den for a Pichu. Rota, meanwhile, just shrugged and walked around the more open part of the forest, simply admiring nature. At least, until she felt something ping her energy sense.

“What the heck!?!” She called out as she whipped her head around in the direction she felt the ping. Taking a moment to probe further, she found that whatever had caused the reading had fled without leaving enough of a trail to follow it. 

“Well, that was weird,” Rota commented right before she heard the bushes rustling behind her. Turning around she saw Sweetie Belle walk out of the brush with a Shiny Pichu on her back.

“Hey Rota, meet Volta. Volta, this is Rota, she’s a friend of mine,” the filly said.

“Pichu!” the baby pokemon cried exuberantly.

“Nice to meet you little one. OK, Sweetie Belle, what next?”

“Next I’d like to find a Jigglypuff. I heard one singing last night, and I knew I just needed to have one of my own to sing with!”

“Well, they’re more common in the bushes and caves of Routes 3 and 4, so unless we get lucky on the way, we’ll need to go there.”

With that, the two (five, counting Pokemon) made their way to Route 3, the closer of the two, in search of a Jigglypuff.








*Meanwhile, in Ultra Space*

Neo, fresh off his retrieval of the notes on the phenomenon known as Synergy Fusion Burst, was walking through the Rainbow Rocket Castle, as he usually did, unless given a mission or in the training yard. His mind was at war between decisions. Should he remain loyal to Rainbow Rocket? Should he jump ship and turn himself into the authorities of the world they were threatening?

As he rounded a corner, he heard something.

A voice?

No, multiple voices.

Following the voices to another hall, he heard them coming from a room with its door slightly ajar.

Giovanni was meeting with Faba, a Pokemon Scientist who once worked for the Aether Foundation. Or at least a version of him. Neo listened closely to the conversation.

“So, what do you think?” Giovanni asked.

“I think it’s brilliant! If Archer’s mission to Orre is successful, then I should be able to finalize what will be needed for our goal.” Faba responded.

This brought a malevolent smile to Giovanni’s face. “Good. At long last, the power of divinity will belong to me.”

Neo quickly and quietly made his way to the Transporter room as Giovanni and Faba began to laugh.

Alright, decision made.







Rota was standing outside the Dragon’s Den in Johto, talking on her cell phone as she waited for Sweetie Belle, the two of them having just come from one of the many abandoned properties that were home to Ghost type Pokemon where the filly literally turned the shadows against the Ghastly she caught and name Smiley. Although Rota still had a crick in her neck from the song induced sleep Sweetie and the Jigglypuff she caught, named Lulla, had put the Saiyan into.

“...und außerdem, ist sie kaum mehr als ein Kind,” (“... and furthermore, she is little more than a child”), she said.

“Selbst wenn sie so mächtig ist, wie sie scheint, wäre es besser, mehr Hände in Bereitschaft zu haben, falls sie gebraucht werden,” (“Even so, if she's as powerful as she seems, it would be better to have more hands on standby in case they're needed,”) a male voice responded.

Rota gave a sigh, letting the arm holding her phone fall to her side. “Yeah, you’re right. Alright, but finding each other won’t be easy.”

“If things go as they always seem to with us, we’ll reunite in due time. For now, I gotta go take care of something. Love you, sis.”

“Love you too, bro.” With that Rota hung up as Sweetie Belle exited the Dragon’s Den, Great Ball in hand.

“I’ll introduce you to him in a bit. For now, let’s find somewhere to relax.”

Soon after, they were in a semi secluded field with a lake nearby, Sweetie Belle letting out her Pokemon for a little meet and greet between them, Rota and herself.

By the end of it, Rota only had one thing to say.

“I’m glad I met you as a friend and not a foe.”

Sweetie Belle giggled in response.